Coverage extension level for coverage limited device

ABSTRACT

Generally discussed herein are systems, apparatuses, and methods that can provide a coverage enhancement to a coverage limited device. According to an example a method can include repeating a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) data transmission multiple times over multiple sub-frames to a coverage limited Machine Type Communication (MTC) User Equipment (UE), or repeating the PBCH data transmission two or three times within one sub-frame to the coverage limited MTC UE.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/311,938, filed Jun. 23, 2014, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,374,151,which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/863,902, filed on Aug. 8,2013; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/879,014, filed onSep. 17, 2013; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/898,425, filed on Oct. 31, 2013, each of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Examples discussed herein generally relate to device or cellular networkcoverage enhancement. More specifically, examples generally relate torepeating a transmission of Master information Block (MIB) for coverageenhancement.

BACKGROUND

Machine-Type Communication (MTC), sometimes referred to asmachine-to-machine (M2M) communication, is a promising and emergingtechnology to help enable a ubiquitous computing environment towards theconcept of an “Internet of Things” (an internetworking of things). MTCenables machines to communicate directly with one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralscan describe similar components in different views. Like numerals havingdifferent letter suffixes can represent different instances of similarcomponents. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, butnot by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the presentdocument.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of a wireless network, inaccord with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of a sub-frame andcorresponding Resource Elements (REs), in accord with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of anothersub-frame and corresponding Resource Elements (REs), in accord with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of anothersub-frame and corresponding Resource Elements (REs), in accord with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of anothersub-frame and corresponding Resource Elements (REs), in accord with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 6 shows a graph illustrating SNR vs Block Error Rate (BLER), inaccord with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 7 shows another graph illustrating Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) vsBLER, in accord with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of time periods for transmitting MIB datato a coverage limited device, in accord with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 9 shows another block diagram of time periods for transmitting MIBdata, in accord with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 10A shows a flow diagram of an example of a method for attaining acoverage enhancement, in accord with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 10B shows a flow diagram of another example of a method forattaining a coverage enhancement, in accord with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 11 shows block diagram of a computer system, in accord with one ormore embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Examples in this disclosure relate generally to a mechanism forindicating a coverage extension level for an MTC. More specifically,examples relate to using a Physical Random Access Channel (MACH)transmission to indicate a coverage extension level for an MTC device.

People and machines excel at different types of tasks. Machines arebetter at repetitive, well-defined operations, whereas people are betterat operations that include insight, inference, interpretation, oroperations that are not well-defined. Also, the speed at which a personcan perform an operation can be slower than a machine can perform thesame operation, or vice versa. As computing capabilities and technologyevolve, a machine can become capable of performing an operation that amachine previously was not able to perform. Getting a machine to performthe operation can be more cost effective than having a person performthe operation, because a person is typically an hourly cost, while amachine is a one-time cost (plus maintenance cost). By replacing theperson with a machine, the person can be freed to perform an operationthat a machine cannot currently perform.

Existing mobile broadband networks (e.g., cellular networks) weredesigned to optimize performance mainly for human type ofcommunications. The current networks are not optimized for MTC specificrequirements. For instance, some MTC devices are installed in basementsof residential buildings and these devices would experiencesignificantly greater penetration losses on the radio interface than anetwork device on a street, for example. In order to help providesufficient coverage of such MTC devices, special coverage enhancementconsiderations can be made, such as by using various physical channels.

Note that not all the MTC devices are located in a coverage holerequiring the worst case coverage enhancement target and some MTC device(e.g., User Equipment (UE)) may not need the coverage improvement or maynot need the maximum coverage improvement to communicate with abusestation (e.g., an eNodeB). Thus, to save resources or power, it can beadvantageous to provide a variety of coverage level extensions based onthe needs of the varying MTC devices and their locations.

Potential MTC based applications include smart metering, healthcaremonitoring, remote security surveillance, intelligent transportationsystem, among others. These services and applications can help stimulatethe design and development of a new type of MTC device that can beintegrated into current and next generation mobile broadband networks,such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LIE-A).

According to the reference Maximum Coupling Loss (MCL) table in the 3GPPTR 36.888 V2.1.1 specification and assuming 4 dB Signal to Noise Ratio(SNR) loss when employing a single receive Radio Frequency (RF) chain(as specified for a new UE category), the required coverage enhancementtarget for Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) is 10.7 dB for a FrequencyDivision Duplexing (FDD) LTE system. Discussed herein are possiblesolutions to achieve the PBCH coverage enhancement target, such as forMTC devices of a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) or FDD LTE system.

In the current LIE system a Master Information Block (MIB) istransmitted on the PBCH with a periodicity of 40 ms. The PBCH symbol ismapped to the central 72 subcarriers of the Orthogonal Frequency DomainMultiplexing (OFDM) signal (which corresponds to the minimum possibleLIE system bandwidth of six Resource Blocks (RBs)), regardless of theactual system bandwidth.

Repetition of PBCH transmission in the time domain can be an effectiveway to extend the coverage of a base station, such as for MTC devices orother devices. Due to the 40 ms periodicity of a System Frame Number(SEN) update in MIB, the PBCH repetition can be performed within the 40ms period. Some options for the repetition can include repeating thePBCH transmission in sub-frame number zero onto other sub-frames in thesame radio frame or repeating the PBCH transmission in other OFDMsymbols of other sub-frames.

While the first option may be desirable from the specificationperspective, due to limited specification impact, the latter one canallow more level of repetitions such that additional link budget gaincan be achieved. For FDD system, based on the first approach, themaximum number of repetitions for PBCH within 40 ms period is ten. Forthe second option, in sub-frame number zero and sub-frame number fivewith two OFDM symbols allocated for Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS)or Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) transmission, two repetitionscan be achieved, while in the remaining sub-frames, three repetitionscan be achieved when two OFDM symbols are allocated for PhysicalDownlink Control Channel (PDCCH). According to this pattern design, themaximum number of repetitions can be twenty-eight. Note that therepetition pattern and allocated resources can be predefined for PBCHcoverage enhancement based on repetition.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of a portion of a cellularnetwork 100, according to one or more embodiments. The cellular networkcan include a base station 102 communicatively coupled to one or moredevices 104A, 104B, 104C, or 104D.

The base station 102 can include a radio transceiver. The base station102 can receive UpLink (UL) data or a DownLink (DL) request from thedevice 104A-D. The base station 102 can transmit Downlink (DL) data or aUL request to the device 104A-D. The base station 102 can include aneNodeB, such as when the network 100 is an LTE network. The transceiverof the base station 102 can provide an interface for devices 104A-D tocommunicate to one another or a data network.

The device 104A-D can include a radio transceiver configured tocommunicate with the radio transceiver of the base station 102. Thedevice 104A-D can include a phone (e.g., a smart phone), a laptop, atablet, a personal digital assistant, a desktop computer, or an MTCdevice, among others. In the example where the network is an LTEnetwork, the device 104A-D can include a UE.

An MTC device is an automatically-controlled (e.g., controlled withouthuman interference or interaction after deployment, other thanmaintenance or deployment, etc. or unattended device. Examples MTCdevices include a smart fridge that can measure temperature or pressurein the fridge or make a decision on the quality of food in the fridge,telematics (i.e. tracking of vehicles), security devices (e.g., camerasor motion detectors), meter readers, payment machines, vending machines,monitoring devices (e.g., heart rate, oxygen, air quality,blood-glucose, among others), among many others.

An MTC device is distinguished from a human communications device. Ahuman communications device provides services such as voice calling,messaging, or web browsing. MTC devices may not provide such services.

Each of the devices 104A-D illustrated in FIG. 1 can have differentrequirements for coverage extension levels, such as can include nocoverage extension needed to a maximum coverage extension level needed,and any coverage extension in between. For example, a device 104A-Dlocated in a basement can require a coverage extension level in order tocommunicate with the base station 102, while a device 104A-D outside ona street can have no requirement for a coverage extension to communicatewith the base station 102. To help reduce radio resource waste anddevice 104A-D or base station 102 power consumption, it can beadvantageous for the device 104A-D to indicate to the base station 102how much coverage extension the device 104A-D needs to reliablycommunicate with the base station 102.

The base station 102 can be configured to transmit MIB data to thedevice a number of times. The base station 102 can transmit the MIB datain any of sub-frames zero through sub-frame nine. The MIB data can betransmitted once or twice in sub-frames number zero and sub-framesnumber five. The MIB data can be transmitted one, two, or three times insub-frames one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, or nine. A ratematching operation can be performed, such as to determine which REs in aparticular sub-frame will carry the MIB data.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5 show examples of sub-frame configurations fortransmitting NUB data.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a sub-frame 200 that includes aPBCH repetition pattern, according to one or more embodiments. The PBCHrepetition pattern can be repeated in one or more sub-frames, such assub-frame number zero and sub-frame number five, for a Physical ResourceBlock (PRB) within the PBCH transmission. Currently, the center six PRBsare used for a PBCH transmission. For the remaining sub-frames, avariety of PBCH repetition patterns can be used see FIGS. 3, 4, and 5for example patterns). A number of repetitions can be attained in eachsub-frame, such as one, two, three, or more repetitions. In the exampleof FIG. 2, the PBCH data is repeated in symbols seven through ten orsymbols four and eleven through thirteen, respectively.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a sub-frame 300 that includes aPBCH repetition pattern, according to one or more embodiments. The firstPBCH repetition pattern, as shown in FIG. 3, is carried in symbols twothrough five. The second PBCH repetition block, which occupies themajority the OFDM symbols seven through ten. According to thisrepetition pattern, a legacy device 104A-D can decode the PBCH fromlegacy PBCH position. A third repetition block can be carried in symbolssix and eleven through thirteen of the sub-frame.

The base station 102 can schedule a Physical Downlink Shared Channel(PDSCH) transmission for legacy device 104A-D in a Resource Block (RB)that is not the six central PRBs, such that the impact on the legacydevice 104A-D could be limited.

For coverage limited devices 104A-D, the predefined repetition levelscan be employed for coherent combining to improve the coverage. Notethat this disclosure can be optionally used by new devices in, such asin LTE Rel-12. New device and other devices, can be provided an improvedcoverage option for PBCH. These devices can either select the legacyPBCH resources or perform coherent combining over several repeatedresources to decode MIB information.

In one or more embodiments, such as in repetition block number one orrepetition block number three, four Resource Elements (REs) can beeither unused, occupied by pilot symbols, or used for PBCH. A pilotsymbol can be used to further improve the channel estimationperformance. If the REs are unused or occupied by pilot symbols, thenumber of REs used for PBCH transmission in each repetition blockremains the same as the legacy Mai, which may simplify the coherentcombining at the device 104A-D or the base station 102.

In one or more embodiments, the four REs can be reserved for PBCHtransmission, such that the total number of resource elements in onerepetition block can be increased, such as to up to about 264 REs. Bydoing so, the coding rate for PBCH transmission can be reduced and thusperformance gain can be achieved. Note that these four REs may beshifted to other OFDM symbols within the repetition block without CRS.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a sub-frame 400 that includes aPBCH repetition pattern, according to one or more embodiments. In FIG.4, resources available for PBCH transmission are equally divided intothree regions, with each region occupied by one repetition block. Asshown in FIG. 4, the first region occupies the majority of symbols twothrough five, the second region occupies the majority of symbols sixthrough nine, and the third region occupies the majority of symbols tenthrough thirteen. A similar design for unused, pilot, or extra PBCHsymbols can be used as was discussed with regard to FIG. 3. For therepetition pattern of FIG. 4, the legacy devices 104A-D may not be ableto decode the MIB information from the legacy PBCH position in thesub-frames with repeated PBCH transmission, since the position of thePBCH REs in the sub-frame have changed from occupying symbols seventhrough ten (see FIG. 3) to occupying symbols six through nine (see FIG.4).

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a sub-frame 500 that includes aPBCH repetition pattern, in accord with one or more embodiments. In FIG.5 the numbered REs indicate an RE that can be mapped to a PBCH RE,according to one or more embodiments. A rate-matching operation can beperformed to fill out at least a portion of the available REs in asub-frame. The rate-matching operation can be functionally equivalent tothe repetition patterns as shown in FIGS. 2-4.

In one or more embodiments, a frequency first mapping can be applied forthe repeated PBCH so as to be in-line with the existing PBCH mappingrule used by an LTE eNodeB. The encoded bits can be rate-matched, suchas until all available REs in a sub-frame are filled in, such as afterTail Biting Convolutional Codes (TBCC) (e.g., with 1/3 mother codingrate). With this operation, all the available resources can be used forrepeated PBCH, such as to make efficient use of the resources.

Note that only one PRB is shown. The number in the RE box represents themapping order in modulation symbol level (e.g., Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying (QPSK) symbol level). Two encoded bits can be mapped to eachnumber.

FIG. 6 illustrates a graph 600 of SNR vs. Block Error Rate (BLER) for avariety of device or base station configurations, according to one ormore embodiments. The graph 600 shows the effect of Power SpectralDensity (PSD) boosting (e.g., CRS boosting), repeating a PBCHtransmission, combinations of repetitions and boosting, and norepetitions or boosting. PSI) boosting can be used by itself or inconjunction with other techniques to improve the coverage, such as for acoverage limited device. PSI) boosting can be applied on the REs usedfor CRS, PBCH, or both. FIG. 6 illustrates the link level performancewith 3 dB PSD boosting on CRS only and on both PBCH and CRS inconjunction with 28 repetitions, respectively. For FDD LTE system, PBCHa coverage enhancement target can be achieved with twenty-eightrepetitions and 3 dB CRS boosting. Line 602 indicates a BLER target.

FIG. 7 illustrates a graph 700 of SNR vs. BLER for a variety of deviceor base station configurations, according to one or more embodiments.Line 702 indicates a BLER target. For legacy PBCH, MIB contains athree-bit DownLink (DL) system bandwidth, three-bit PHICH configuration,eight-bit System Frame Number (SFN) and ten spare bits. As specified fora new device category, PDCCH or Enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH) is allowed touse the carrier bandwidth, which indicates that it may not be feasibleto eliminate the three-bit DL system bandwidth. Considering thepossibility of replacing PHICH by PDCCH with an UpLink (UL) grant andremoving ten spare bits, the MIB content can be reduced to eleven bits,which can result in twenty-seven bits for PBCH (denoted as mPBCH in FIG.7) after Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC). Subsequently, if less CRCoverhead is considered (e.g., eight CRC bits instead of sixteen CRCbits), the size of mPBCH after CRC can be further reduced to nineteenbits.

As can be seen in FIG. 7, the link level performance for mPBCH designwith reduced legacy MIB content can be improved by reducing the MIBcontent. It can be observed that about a 1.4 dB and a 2.5 dB coding gaincan be achieved when the size of mPBCH (after CRC) is reduced totwenty-seven bits and nineteen bits, respectively.

As described above, a number of repetitions, which can consume REs inthe central six PRBs, can be used to meet the coverage enhancementtarget for PBCH. Since only a relatively small portion of devices mayneed or benefit from coverage enhancement, repetition of PBCHtransmission may not be desirable in terms of cell spectrum efficiency,such as in a system with smaller carrier bandwidth. An intermittenttransmission, which allows for more infrequent PBCH transmissions, canbe considered as a mechanism to help reduce resource consumption usingthe coverage enhancement.

In the design of intermittent transmission for PBCH, various periodlengths can be considered and the base station and device can beconfigured accordingly. In this way, the base station 102 can adjust theperiodicity of a PBCH transmission, such as can be dependent on currentdevice traffic (e.g., coverage enhancement needed traffic, such as anMTC UE or a legacy device traffic). More specifically, devices that canbenefit from coverage enhancement can be scheduled to transmit the dataduring a time that the base station 102 is known to have less traffic. Alower duty cycle for a PBCH transmission (e.g., in the order of minutesor hours) may be beneficial in a higher traffic time, such as to reducethe impact on a legacy device. During the lower traffic time, the basestation 102 can transmit the PBCH more frequently (e.g., in the order ofmilliseconds or seconds), such as to help coverage limited devicesaccess the network more quickly. By employing different (e.g.,configurable) period lengths for a PBCH transmission, a balance betweenan impact on a legacy device and access latency for a coverage limiteddevice can be achieved. An example of different configurable periodlengths is shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 illustrates a PBCH intermittent transmission scheme 800,according to one or more embodiments. Note that during PBCHtransmission, repetition, or PSD boosting can be used help to meet acoverage enhancement target. In particular, the PBCH transmissionduration can be the order of 40 ms and can be at least 80 ms, such as toincrease the number of repetitions that can be sent and help improve thedecoding performance, such as to help ensure the proper reception ofmPBCH for MTC devices. The base station 102 can be configured totransmit NUB to the device 104A-D with a time period betweentransmissions 802 during a first time of day and a time period betweentransmissions 804 during a second time of day. The time period betweentransmissions 802 can be longer than the time period betweentransmissions 804, such as to have a lower impact on legacy devices. Thetime period between transmissions 802 can correspond to a time of daythat is known to have a higher (e.g., average) device traffic than thetime period between transmissions 804. For example, the time periodbetween transmissions 802 can be during business hours or during thehours of seven AM and eleven PM, and the time period transmissions 804can be used during the rest of the time. That is only an example, thetime period lengths and the times at which they are used areconfigurable, such as can be based on empirical data of traffic time orhow many coverage limited devices need access to the cellular networkresources.

The base station 102 can (e.g., autonomously) choose transmissionopportunities or times for a PBCH transmission (e.g., an intermittentPBCH transmission). The PBCH transmission repetitions can be performedwithin an opportunity, in one or more embodiments. An opportunity can bedefined as four radio frames (e.g., 40 milliseconds). In one or moreembodiments, the base station 102 can transmit repeated PBCH within theopportunity. With this operation, the transmission of PBCH can beperformed periodically or non-periodically. The base station 102 candecide on the implementation. Such a configuration can allow the basestation 102 flexibility in handling the overhead related to repeatedPBCH (Mal for coverage limited devices). The device 104A-D can beconfigured to assume that the PBCH may not always be transmitted atevery opportunity (or instance) or that the PBCH will be transmitted atevery possible instance if the opportunity is selected for thetransmission, among other configurations.

In one or more embodiments, the base station 102 can transmitinformation to the device 104A-D to indicate the PBCH transmissionconfiguration. In embodiments where the PBCH is transmittedperiodically, the starting offset and/or the periodicity can betransmitted to the device 104A-D. The signaling can be provided by Level1 (L1) control signaling or by higher layer signaling (e.g., MediumAccess Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), Radio Resource Control (RRC),etc.). The signaling can be cell-specific signaling or device specificsignaling.

In an initial network access stage, the device 104A-D may not be able todecode the PBCH transmission. The decoding of the PBCH transmission caninclude an appreciable amount of power consumption. After NIBinformation is received by the device 104A-D, the PBCH information(e.g., period length or starting offset) can be signaled to the device104A-D. If the information is transmitted to a device 104A-D in an RRCconnected mode, the device can use the information to decode PDSCH or tomeasure CSI-RS. Such decoding can help in an embodiment that includesrate matching. The PDSCH can be rate-matched around PBCH, and CSI-RS isnot transmitted in the sub-frames, so transmitting PBCH can beproblematic. The PBCH information configuration can be signaled to thedevice 104A-D using a HandOver (HO) command message. After the device104A-D receives the HO command message from the serving cell, the device104A-D can decode the MIB (PBCH for coverage limited devices 104A-D) toget the current SFN (System Frame Number) for the target cell. Theinformation in HO command message can help the device 104A-D save power,by avoiding a decoding operation.

If the information is signaled to a device 104A-D in RRC idle mode, itcan be beneficial the device 104A-D to read the MIB for the camped cell(e.g., the cell the device 104A-D is tuned to, to receive network systeminformation) to save the power but also paging whether rate-matching isapplied to PBCH or not. The configuration information can include thetime information related to SEN. The configuration can include a bitindicating whether the current SFN of the serving cell is the same asthat of the previous cell the device 104A-D was connected to. If the bitindicates the same SFN, the device can use the information from theprevious cell, such as to save time or power. Otherwise, the device104A-D can try to figure out the configuration of PBCH another way. Inone or more embodiments, the network can assure the SFN is the sameamong the cells so that SFN does not need to be conveyed in the signal.In such embodiments, the device 104A-D can determine a PBCHconfiguration without SFN signaling.

In one or more embodiments, a restricted sub-frame can be used to signala PBCH transmission configuration. Such an embodiment can facilitate abackward compatibility in applying CRS boosting. The legacy UE may notknow whether a sub-frame contains PBCH or not, such as in situationswhere a new signaling is introduced. Thus, when CRS boosting is appliedin a certain region in time or frequency domain, a Reference SignalReceived Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), or aRadio Link Monitoring (RLM) measurement, using CRS can negatively affectthe legacy device unless all CRSs in all regions (e.g., all REs and allsub-frames) apply the CRS boosting. The following solutions can be usedto help keep backward compatibility. First, all CRSs can be boosted inall time and frequency resources or second, the device 104A-D can assumethe PBCH is transmitted only in a Multi-Broadcast Single-FrequencyNetwork (MBSFN) region of an MBSFN sub-frame, such as can be configuredfor the restricted sub-frame, such as can be given bymeasSubframePatternPCell in the RRC parameters. In such sub-frames, theRSRP, RSRQ, and RLM may not be performed. With such a configuration, thelegacy device may not perform the RSRP, RSRQ, or RLM measurement onthose configured sub-frames which are intended to transmit PBCH, whilethe legacy device does not recognize the PBCH.

FIG. 9 illustrates a PBCH resource allocation mechanism withintermittent repetition in which the repetition is scheduled in acontinuous block of time, such as in the unit of 40 ms or a multiplethereof, according to one or more embodiments. In FIG. 9, N is a numberof PBCH transmission periods, each transmission period in the unit of 40ms, M is the number of PBCH blocks in the unit of 40 ms, and L is thenumber of PBCH repetitions within one radio frame. L, M, and N can begreater than or equal to one. PBCH repetitions can be employed acrossmultiple sub-frames within the same frame or across OFDM symbols withinthe same sub-frame. As an example, the number of PBCH repetitions can betwo. Such a configuration can reduce the device 104A-D powerconsumption. In such a configuration, sub-frame number zero and numberfive can be employed for PBCH repetitions, which can allow a unifiedsolution to support both FDD and TDD systems.

In FIG. 9, there are L repetitions within 10 ms and the repetitions areapplied four times in 40 ms. In the example of FIG. 9, there are tworepetitions in 10 ms. The repeated PBCH during 40 ms can be repeated Mtimes, such as in units of 40 ms. The next transmission for anotherrepetition in the unit of 40 ms by M times may occur in the next N*40ms. The repeated PBCH in the unit of 40 ms does not have to beconsecutive, however a consecutively repeated PBCH in the unit of 40 mscan save detection time.

FIG. 10A shows a flow diagram of an example of a method 1000A forrepeating PBCH data to attain a coverage enhancement, according to oneor more embodiments.

The method 1000A, as illustrated in FIG. 10, can be performed by themodules, components, devices, or systems described herein. 1000Aincludes: transmitting MIB a first time to a device in a firstsub-frame, at operation 1002; and transmitting MIB data a second time tothe device in a second sub-frame, at operation 1004. The MIB data can betransmitted to UE, such as in the PBCH.

The first or second sub-frames can be sub-frame zero or sub-frame five.The MIB data can be transmitted the first time in symbols four andsymbols eleven through thirteen and the MIB data can be transmitted thefirst or second time in symbols seven through ten of the secondsub-frame. The first or second sub-frames can include sub-frame one,sub-frame two, sub-frame three, sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frameseven, sub-frame eight, or sub-frame nine. The MIB data can betransmitted the second time in symbols two through thirteen of therespective sub-frame. The MIB data can be transmitted the first time insymbols two through five in the respective sub-frame. The MIB data canbe transmitted the first or second time in symbols six through thirteenin the respective sub-frame. The MIB data transmitted to a device caninclude less than forty bits of data. The MIB data, in one or moreembodiments can include twenty-seven or nineteen bits of data.

The method 1000A can include rate matching to determine which ResourceElements (REs) of the first sub-frame and the second sub-frame willcarry the MIB data. The method 1000A can include transmitting, using thePBCH, the MIB data a third time to the UE in the second sub-frame,wherein the first and second sub-frames are the same sub-frame, whereinthe first and second sub-frames are sub-frame one, sub-frame two,sub-frame three, sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frame seven,sub-frame eight, or sub-frame nine. The method 1000A can include PSDboosting the transmission of the first sub-frame or the secondsub-frame, PSD boosting the transmission of the first sub-frame or thesecond sub-frame includes PBCH boosting or Cell-specific ReferenceSignal boosting the transmission.

Transmitting MIB data to the UE can include transmitting the MIB data toa coverage limited UE at a first time and at a second time after thefirst time. The time between the first time and the second time can beless during a time of day that has a lower average LTE traffic. The timebetween the first time and the second time is greater during a time ofday that has a higher average UE traffic relative to the lower averageUE traffic.

FIG. 10B shows a flow diagram of an example of a method 1000B forrepeating PBCH data to attain a coverage enhancement, according to oneor more embodiments.

The method 1000B, as illustrated in FIG. 10, can be performed by themodules, components, devices, or systems described herein. 1000Bincludes: repeating a PBCH data transmission multiple times overmultiple sub-frames to a device (e.g., a coverage limited MTC LTE), atoperation 1006; or repeating the PBCH data transmission two or threetimes within one sub-frame to the device, at operation 1008.

The operation at 1006 or 1008 can include transmitting the PBCH data afirst time in a first sub-frame and transmitting the PBCH data a secondtime in a second sub-frame. The first or second sub-frame can besub-frame zero or sub-frame five. The PBCH data can include MIB datatransmitted in symbols four and symbols eleven through thirteen in thefirst sub-frame and the PBCH data can include the MIB data transmittedin symbols seven through ten of the second sub-frame. The first orsecond sub-frame can be sub-frame one, sub-frame two, sub-frame three,sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frame seven, sub-frame eight, orsub-frame nine. The PBCH data can include MIB data transmitted thesecond time in symbols two through thirteen of the first and secondsub-frames. The PBCH data can include MIB data transmitted the firsttime in symbols two through five in the first sub-frame. The PBCH datacan include MIB data transmitted the second time in symbols six throughthirteen in the second sub-frame.

The operation at 1006 or 1008 can include transmitting the PBCH datatransmission a third time to the coverage limited MTC LIE in a thirdsub-frame. The first, second, or third sub-frames can be the samesub-frame. The third sub-frame can sub-frame one, sub-frame two,sub-frame three, sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frame seven,sub-frame eight, or sub-frame nine.

The operation at 1006 or 1008 can include repeating the PBCH datatransmission multiple times including at least a first transmission at afirst time and a second transmission at a second time. The time betweenthe first time and the second time can be less during a time of day thathas a lower average UE traffic and the time between the first time andthe second time can be greater during a time of day that has a higheraverage UE traffic.

The method 1000B can include PSD boosting the transmission of the firstsub-frame or the second sub-frame. PSD boosting the transmission of thefirst sub-frame or the second sub-frame includes PBCH boosting orCell-specific Reference Signal boosting the transmission.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a wired or wirelessdevice 1100 in accord with one or more embodiments. The device 1100(e.g., a machine) can operate so as to perform one or more of thetechniques (e.g., methodologies) discussed herein. In alternativeembodiments, the device 1100 can operate as a standalone device or canbe connected (e.g., networked) to other machines, such as the basestation 102 or the device 104A-D. The device 1100 can be a part of thebase station 102 or the device 104A-D, as discussed herein. In anetworked deployment, the device 1100 can operate in the capacity of aserver machine, a client machine, or both in server-client networkenvironments. In an example, the device 1100 can act as a peer machinein peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. Thedevice 1100 can include a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-topbox (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone; a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting instructions sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine, such as abase station. Further, while only asingle machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken toinclude any collection of machines that individually or jointly executea set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software asa service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

Examples, as described herein; can include, or can operate on, logic ora number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangibleentities e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations whenoperating. A module includes hardware. In an example, the hardware canbe specifically configured to carry out a specific operation (e.g.,hardwired). In an example, the hardware can include configurableexecution units (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and a computerreadable medium containing instructions, where the instructionsconfigure the execution units to carry out a specific operation when inoperation. The configuring can occur under the direction of theexecutions units or a loading mechanism. Accordingly, the executionunits are communicatively coupled to the computer readable medium whenthe device is operating. In this example, the execution units can be amember of more than one module. For example, under operation, theexecution units can be configured by a first set of instructions toimplement a first module at one point in time and reconfigured by asecond set of instructions to implement a second module.

Device (e.g., computer system) 1100 can include a hardware processor1102 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit(GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mainmemory 1104 and a static memory 1106, some or all of which cancommunicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 1108. Thedevice 1100 can further include a display unit 1110, an alphanumericinput device 1112 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI)navigation device 1114 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit1110, input device 1112 and 111 navigation device 1114 can be a touchscreen display. The device 1100 can additionally include a storagedevice (e.g., drive unit) 1116, a signal generation device 1118 (e.g., aspeaker), a network interface device 1120, and one or more sensors 1121,such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass,accelerometer, or other sensor. The device 1100 can include an outputcontroller 1128, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB),parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near fieldcommunication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one ormore peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.). The device1100 can include one or more radios 1130 (e.g., transmission, reception,or transceiver devices). The radios 1130 can include one or moreantennas to receive or transmit signal transmissions. The radios 1130can be coupled to or include the processor 1102. The processor 1102 cancause the radios 1130 to perform one or more transmit or receiveoperations. Coupling the radios 1130 to such a processor can beconsidered configuring the radio 1130 to perform such operations. Theradio 1130 can be a communication network radio configured tocommunicate to a base station or other component of the communicationnetwork.

The storage device 1116 can include a machine readable medium 1122 onwhich is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 1124(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of thetechniques or functions described herein. The instructions 1124 can alsoreside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1104,within static memory 1106, or within the hardware processor 1102 duringexecution thereof by the device 1100. In an example, one or anycombination of the hardware processor 1102, the main memory 1104, thestatic memory 1106, or the storage device 1116 can constitute machinereadable media.

While the machine readable medium 1122 is illustrated as a singlemedium, the term “machine readable medium” can include a single mediumor multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers configured to store the one or moreinstructions 1124.

The term “machine readable medium” can include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe device 1100 and that cause the device 1100 to perform any one ormore of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated withsuch instructions. Non-limiting machine readable medium examples caninclude solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. In anexample, a massed machine readable medium comprises a machine readablemedium with a plurality of particles having resting mass. Specificexamples of massed machine readable media can include: non-volatilememory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., ElectricallyProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices;magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

The instructions 1124 can further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1126 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 1120 utilizing any one of a number of transferprotocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP); transmissioncontrol protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks can include alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet datanetwork (e.g., the Internet mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellularnetworks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks; and wireless datanetworks (e.g., institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family ofstandards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards,peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the networkinterface device 1120 can include one or more physical jacks (e.g.,Ethernet; coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect tothe communications network 1126. In an example, the network interfacedevice 1120 can include a plurality of antennas to wirelesslycommunicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO),multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or multiple-input single-output(MISO) techniques. The term “transmission medium” shall be taken toinclude any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding orcarrying instructions for execution by the device 1100, and includesdigital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium tofacilitate communication of such software.

EXAMPLES AND NOTES

The present subject matter can be described by way of several examples.

Example 1 can include or use subject matter (such as an apparatus, amethod, a means for performing acts, or a device readable memoryincluding instructions that, when performed by the device, can configurethe device to perform acts such as can include or use an eNodeBcomprising a transceiver configured to repeat a Physical BroadcastChannel (PBCH) data transmission multiple times over multiple sub-framesto a coverage limited Machine Type Communication (MTC) User Equipment(UE), or repeat the PBCH data transmission multiple times within onesub-frame to the coverage limited MTC UE.

Example 2 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 1, to include or use a processor coupled tothe transceiver configured to perform a rate matching operation todetermine which Resource Elements (REs) of the sub-frame or sub-frameswill carry Master Information Block (MIB) data of the PBCH data.

Example 3 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 1, to include or use, wherein the transceiveris configured to transmit the PBCH data a first time in a firstsub-frame, wherein the first sub-frame is sub-frame zero or sub-framefive, wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the PBCH data asecond time in the second sub-frame, wherein the second sub-frame issub-frame zero or sub-frame five, or wherein the PBCH data includes MIBdata transmitted the first time in symbols four and symbols eleventhrough thirteen and transmitted the second time in symbols seventhrough ten of the second sub-frame.

Example 4 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 1, to include or use, wherein the transceiveris configured to transmit the PBCH data a first time in a firstsub-frame and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the PBCHdata a second time in a second sub-frame, wherein the first and secondsub-frames are one of sub-frame one, sub-frame two, sub-frame three,sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frame seven, sub-frame eight, orsub-frame nine and wherein the PBCH data includes MIB data transmittedthe first and second times in symbols two through thirteen of therespective sub-frame.

Example 5 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 4, to include or use, wherein the PBCH dataincludes MIB data transmitted the first time in symbols two through fivein the respective sub-frame and wherein the PBCH data include MIB datatransmitted the second time in symbols six through thirteen in therespective sub-frame.

Example 6 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 4, to include or use, wherein the transceiveris configured to transmit the PBCH data a third time to the UE in thesecond sub-frame, wherein the first and second sub-frames are the samesub-frame, wherein the first and second sub-frames are sub-frame one,sub-frame two, sub-frame three, sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frameseven, sub-frame eight, or sub-frame nine.

Example 7 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of at least one of Examples 1-6, to include or use,wherein the transceiver configured to repeat the PBCH data transmissionincludes the transceiver configured to repeat the PBCH data transmissionto the coverage limited MTC UE multiple times including at least a firsttransmission at a first time and a second transmission at a second timeafter the first time, respectively, wherein the time between the firsttime and the second time is less during a time of day that has a loweraverage UE traffic and the time between the first time and the secondtime is greater during a time of day that has a higher average HEtraffic.

Example 8 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of at least one of Examples 1-7, to include or usewherein the transceiver is configured to transmit Power Spectral Density(PSD) boosted first sub-frame or second sub-frame.

Example 9 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 8, to include or use, wherein the PSD boostedfirst or second sub-frame includes a PBCH boost or Cell-specificReference Signal (CRS) boosted first or second sub-frame.

Example 10 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of at least one of Examples 1-9, to include or use,wherein the transceiver configured to transmit the MIB data the firsttime to the User Equipment (UE) includes transmitting less than fortybits of MIB data to the UE.

Example 11 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 10, to include or use, wherein the transceiverconfigured to transmit the MIB data the first time to the UE includestransmitting twenty-seven or nineteen bits of MIB data to the UE.

Example 12 can include or use subject matter (such as an apparatus, amethod, a means for performing acts, or a device readable memoryincluding instructions that, when performed by the device, can configurethe device to perform acts), such as can include or use repeating aPhysical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) data transmission multiple times overmultiple sub-frames to a coverage limited Machine Type Communication(MTC) User Equipment (UE), or repeating the PBCH data transmissionmultiple times within one sub-frame to the coverage limited MTC UE.

Example 13 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 12, to include or use rate matching todetermine which Resource Elements (REs) of the first sub-frame and thesecond sub-frame will carry Master Information Block (NUB) data of thePBCH data.

Example 14 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 12, to include or use, wherein repeating thePBCH data transmission includes transmitting PBCH data a first time in afirst sub-frame and transmitting PBCH data a second time in a secondsub-frame, wherein the first sub-frame is sub-frame zero or sub-framefive, wherein the second sub-frame is sub-frame zero or sub-frame five,or wherein the PBCH data includes MIB data transmitted the first time insymbols four and symbols eleven through thirteen and the PBCH dataincludes the MIB data transmitted the second time in symbols seventhrough ten of the second sub-frame.

Example 15 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 12, to include or use, wherein repeating thePBCH data transmission includes transmitting the PBCH data a first timein a first sub-frame and transmitting the PBCH data a second time in asecond sub-frame, wherein the first sub-frame is sub-frame one,sub-frame two, sub-frame three, sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frameseven, sub-frame eight, or sub-frame nine, wherein the second sub-frameis sub-frame one, sub-frame two, sub-frame three, sub-frame four,sub-frame six, sub-frame seven, sub-frame eight, or sub-frame nine, andwherein the PBCH data includes MIB data transmitted the second time insymbols two through thirteen of the first and second sub-frames.

Example 16 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 15, to include or use, wherein the PBCH datainclude MIB data transmitted the first time in symbols two through fivein the first sub-frame and wherein the PBCH data includes MIB datatransmitted the second time in symbols six through thirteen in thesecond sub-frame.

Example 17 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 16, to include or use, wherein repeating thePBCH data transmission includes transmitting the PBCH data a third timeto the coverage limited MTC LTE in the second sub-frame, wherein thefirst and second sub-frames are the same sub-frame, wherein the firstand second sub-frames are sub-frame one, sub-frame two, sub-frame three,sub-frame four, sub-frame six, sub-frame seven, sub-frame eight, orsub-frame nine.

Example 18 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of at least one of Examples 12-17, to include or use,wherein repeating the PBCH data transmission includes repeating the PBCHdata transmission to the coverage limited MTC UE multiple timesincluding at least a first transmission at a first time and a secondtransmission at a second time, wherein the time between the first timeand the second time is less during a time of day that has a loweraverage UE traffic and the time between the first time and the secondtime is greater during a time of day that has a higher average UEtraffic.

Example 19 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of at least one of Examples 12-18, to include or usePower Spectral Density (PSD) boosting the transmission of the firstsub-frame or the second sub-frame.

Example 20 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 19, to include or use, wherein PSD boostingthe transmission of the first sub-frame or the second sub-frame includesPBCH boosting or Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS) boosting thetransmission.

Example 21 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of at least one of Examples 12-20, to include or use,wherein transmitting, using the PBCH, MIB data to a User Equipment (UE)includes transmitting less than forty bits of MIB data to the UE.

Example 22 can include or use, or can optionally be combined with thesubject matter of Example 21, to include or use, wherein transmitting,using the PBCH, MIB data to a User Equipment (UE) includes transmittingtwenty-seven or nineteen bits of MIB data to the UE.

The above detailed description includes references to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of the detailed description. The drawingsshow, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which methods,apparatuses, and systems discussed herein can be practiced. Theseembodiments are also referred to herein as “examples.” Such examples caninclude elements in addition to those shown or described. However, thepresent inventors also contemplate examples in which only those elementsshown or described are provided. Moreover, the present inventors alsocontemplate examples using any combination or permutation of thoseelements shown or described (or one or more aspects thereof), eitherwith respect to a particular example (or one or more aspects thereof),or with respect to other examples (or one or more aspects thereof) shownor described herein.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In this document, the terms “including” and “inwhich” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms“including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device,article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements inaddition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemedto fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the followingclaims, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merelyas labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements ontheir objects.

As used herein, a “-” (dash) used when referring to a reference numbermeans “or”, in the non-exclusive sense discussed in the previousparagraph, of all elements within the range indicated by the dash. Forexample, 103A-B means a nonexclusive “or” of the elements in the range{103A, 103B}, such that 103A-103B includes “103A but not 103B”, “103Bbut not 103A”, and “103A and 103B”.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or moreaspects thereof) can be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the artupon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to complywith 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), to allow the reader to quickly ascertain thenature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scopeor meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Detailed Description,various features can be grouped together to streamline the disclosure.This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosedfeature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter canlie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment.Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the DetailedDescription as examples or embodiments, with each claim standing on itsown as a separate embodiment, and it is contemplated that suchembodiments can be combined with each other in various combinations orpermutations. The scope of the invention should be determined withreference to the appended claims, along with the full scope ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of an enhanced node B (eNB),the apparatus comprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configuredto: encode transmission symbols with a master information block (MIB),for transmission of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the MIBcomprising information pertaining to a cell; map the transmissionsymbols to resource elements (REs) of a plurality of consecutive radioframes for a single transmission of the PBCH in each of the consecutiveradio frames; when the cell is configured for repetition of the PBCH,map the transmission symbols to additional REs of each of theconsecutive radio frames in accordance with a predetermined mapping foradditional transmissions of the PBCH in each of the consecutive radioframes; and configure transceiver circuitry to transmit the PBCH in theREs of the consecutive radio frames, including the additional REs of theconsecutive radio frames for repetition of the PBCH, wherein thepredetermined mapping indicates a frame offset, a slot number and symbolnumber for each repetition of the PBCH in each of the consecutive radioframes, wherein when configured for time division duplexed (TDD)operation, the additional number of times is at most 5, and whenconfigured for frequency division duplexed (FDD), the additional numberof times is at most
 4. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to refrain from mapping thetransmission symbols for repetition of the PBCH in REs already used fortransmission of cell-specific reference signals (CRS).
 3. The apparatusof claim 2 wherein the processing circuitry is further configured torefrain from mapping the transmission symbols to the additional REs fortransmission of the PBCH more than once in a radio frame when the cellis not configured for repetition of the PBCH.
 4. The apparatus of claim3, wherein the radio frames are FDD radio frames, and wherein thetransmission symbols are mapped to the additional REs of each of theconsecutive radio frames in accordance with the predetermined mapping totransmit the PBCH an additional three or four times in each of the radioframes.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the radio frames are TDDradio frames, and wherein the transmission symbols are mapped to theadditional REs of each of the consecutive radio frames in accordancewith the predetermined mapping to transmit the PBCH an additional three,four or five times in each of the radio frames.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is to configure the cell forrepetition of the PBCH to provide coverage enhancement for userequipment (UE) with poor channel conditions.
 7. The apparatus of claim3, wherein the processing circuitry is to configure the cell forrepetition of the PBCH to provide coverage enhancement for machine-typecommunication (MTC) user equipments (UE) (MTC-UEs).
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to mapsynchronization signals, including a primary synchronization signal(PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to REs fortransmission within each of the consecutive radio frames, the PSS andSSS configured for use in decoding the PBCH.
 9. The apparatus of claim1, wherein when the cell is configured for repetition of the PBCH, basedon the predetermined mapping the PBCH is repeated: four times in a firstradio frame of the consecutive radio frames, four times in a secondradio frame of the consecutive radio frames, four times in a third radioframe of the consecutive radio frames, and three times in a fourth radioframe of the consecutive radio frames.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the apparatus further comprises the transceiver circuitry.
 11. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructionsfor execution by processing circuitry of an enhanced node B (eNB), theprocessing circuitry configured by the instructions to: encodetransmission symbols with a master information block (MIB), fortransmission of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), the MIB comprisinginformation pertaining to a cell; map the transmission symbols toresource elements (REs) of a plurality of consecutive radio frames for asingle transmission of the PBCH in each of the consecutive radio frames;when the cell is configured for repetition of the PBCH, map thetransmission symbols to additional REs of each of the consecutive radioframes in accordance with a predetermined mapping for additionaltransmissions of the PBCH in each of the consecutive radio frames;configure transceiver circuitry to transmit the PBCH in the REs of theconsecutive radio frames, including the additional REs of theconsecutive radio frames for repetition of the PBCH, wherein thepredetermined mapping indicates a frame offset, a slot number and symbolnumber for each repetition of the PBCH in each of the consecutive radioframes, wherein the transmission symbols are mapped to the additionalREs of each of the consecutive radio frames in accordance with thepredetermined mapping to transmit the PBCH an additional number of timesin each of the radio frames, and wherein when configured for timedivision duplexed (TDD) operation, the additional number of times is atmost 5, and when configured for frequency division duplexed (FDD), theadditional number of times is at most
 4. 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 11 wherein the processingcircuitry is configured to refrain from mapping the transmission symbolsfor repetition of the PBCH in REs already used for transmission ofcell-specific reference signals (CRS).
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 12 wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to refrain from mapping the transmissionsymbols to the additional REs for transmission of the PBCH more thanonce in a radio frame when the cell is not configured for repetition ofthe PBCH.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 13, wherein: when the radio frames are FDD radio frames, thetransmission symbols are mapped to the additional REs of each of theconsecutive radio frames in accordance with the predetermined mapping totransmit the PBCH an additional three or four times in each of the radioframes, and when the radio frames are TDD radio frames, the transmissionsymbols are mapped to the additional REs of each of the consecutiveradio frames in accordance with the predetermined mapping to transmitthe PBCH an additional three, four or five times in each of the radioframes.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim13, wherein the processing circuitry is to configure the cell forrepetition of the PBCH to provide coverage enhancement for userequipment (UE) with poor channel conditions.
 16. An apparatus of anenhanced node B (eNB), the apparatus comprising: memory; and processingcircuitry, configured to: encode transmission symbols with a masterinformation block (MIB), for transmission of a physical broadcastchannel (PBCH), the MIB comprising information pertaining to a cell; mapthe transmission symbols to resource elements (REs) of a plurality ofconsecutive radio frames for a single transmission of the PBCH in eachof the consecutive radio frames; map the transmission symbols toadditional REs of each of the consecutive radio frames in accordancewith a predetermined mapping for additional transmissions of the PBCH ineach of the consecutive radio frames; configure transceiver circuitry totransmit the PBCH in the REs of the consecutive radio frames, includingthe additional REs of the consecutive radio frames for repetition of thePBCH; and refrain from mapping the transmission symbols for repetitionof the PBCH in REs already used for transmission of cell-specificreference signals (CRS), wherein the transmission symbols are mapped tothe additional REs of each of the consecutive radio frames in accordancewith the predetermined mapping to transmit the PBCH an additional numberof times in each of the radio frames, and wherein when configured fortime division duplexed (TDD) operation, the additional number of timesis at most 5, and when configured for frequency division duplexed (FDD),the additional number of times is at most
 4. 17. The apparatus of claim16 wherein the predetermined mapping indicates a frame offset, a slotnumber and symbol number for each repetition of the PBCH in each of theconsecutive radio frames.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to map the transmission symbols tothe additional REs of each of the consecutive radio frames in accordancewith the predetermined mapping when the cell is configured forrepetition of the PBCH.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to refrain from mapping thetransmission symbols to the additional REs of each of the consecutiveradio frames in accordance with the predetermined mapping when the cellis not configured for repetition of the PBCH.